Anchor-free methods are known to fasten cleaning elements, such as bristle tufts, in a brush head, in particular a toothbrush head or a part thereof. The anchor-free or hot-tufting methods fasten the cleaning elements in the brush head by means of a forming technique. Usually, bristle tufts are melted at their ends to form thickenings in order to increase the pull-out resistance of the tufts. These thickenings can be over-molded with a plastic material to form a brush head or a part thereof. Cleaning elements made of materials which are combinable with the material used for the brush head may also be securely fastened by a chemical connection.
In order to over-mold the cleaning elements, the ends to be over-molded have to be arranged in such that the plastic material can surround and enclose these ends during the molding-procedure. Therefore the cleaning elements have to be provided by a carrier. These carriers have to resist the molding temperatures and should cover the free ends of the cleaning elements against the melted material during the molding process. Further, different cleaning element arrangements shall be provided. Currently used carriers consist of stainless steel and comprise one or more blind ended drill-holes. These carriers are very expensive and can only be used for one predefined cleaning element geometry.
Accordingly, there is a need for cheaper, temperature resistant carriers having a higher geometric flexibility in order to provide variable and flexible cleaning element arrangements for the production of a variety of toothbrush heads.